Cage: a turn of events
by shinjuTHEpearl
Summary: Season 8 Episode 8- Cage. But staring Jennifer Thurston; an interning detective at SVU, things go differently. What if instead of opening up to Danni Beck, Eden opens up to Jen? All because she got there first. How different would the events of Cage take place when Eden wants Jennifer to be her mommy and Jen says yes! Read to find out. (munchXoc)


Season 8 Episode 8 "Cage"

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_(Authors Note: Alright first up sorry for the short chapter but I wanted to stop the chapter when the theme song came on. The next chapter should be longer I promise. Also so you know this Isn't the first story with detective intern Jennifer Thurston. I lost the files I saved onto my other hard drive so the first couple chapters of that story have to be rewritten before I can post them here. But they will be. Until then treat these as oneshots, tied into the main story that none of you know hehe... sorry again. Hope you enjoy.)_

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**Chapter One: **  
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Morning. My least favorite time of the day, and this particular morning felt worse than normal. John roughly shook my shoulders for what had to have been the third if not fourth time already. After a grunt from him and some shuffling; a blinding light filtered through my closed eyes and I moaned, trying to roll over and shield myself, only to roll off the couch and crashed against the floor. A chuckle sounded from across the room and I smiled to myself; who could resist smiling at that voice? Even I had to admit I couldn't; even when he was waking me up early, on my day off, when I was nearly hung over. After a particularly hard case for myself he had been kind enough to take me out drinking but I'd over done it and passed out on Munch's couch.

Dragging myself up I yawned and watched the older man drink a cup of coffee, rubbing my head. He was already dressed and looked as crisp and professional as usual.

"John. What's up?" I moaned, still trying to wake up before moving my shambling feet to where the older detective and coffee was. He handed me a cup of black joe and I drained the sludge, waiting for my answer.

"New case. Fin and I were called in; figured you might want to tag along. That is, if you're feeling up to it?" He mused, knowing I would want to come. I nodded and gulped another cup of John's so called coffee, I wanted the caffeine, before assuring the detective that I was coming with him and telling him to just wait a moment.

Quick as I could I threw on some clothes; I had quite a few to pick from. Since my frequent stays at John's house had increased I had plenty of clothes stashed at his house, but I guess that was one of the perks of a boyfriend. The moment I was deemed ready I followed Munch out of his apartment and down to his car- ready to rush to the police scene.

...

They were just starting to pull the van from the river when we arrived on the scene. Munch was already in full police mode and strode over to a cluster of uniformed cops to gather information. As I got out more slowly from the car, surveying the area, I spotted Munch's partner Tututola heading for the lanky detective arm raised and mouth moving quickly- probably with a teasing remark for a greeting. I smiled to myself and decided to walk the edges of the roped off police scene, taking a look at the whole before anything. It wasn't as if this was my case anyway.

As I strolled by John mentioned loud enough that I could hear that Stabler and Beck were on their way as well. I wrinkled my nose but waved my hand in his general direction as a thanks. Stabler wasn't one of my biggest fans I wanted to avoid him a little. Every time he saw me he liked to treat me like one of his teenage daughters; telling me to go back to school or to go hang out with my friends at the mall, or whatever it was kids do these days. Which usually made me roll my eyes and want to tell him off. So I tended to avoid him.

Just as I was finishing my walk around and was getting ready to walk back to Munch and Fin I spotted Elliot's car pull up. I ducked behind a few uni's as he passed by I watched him head over to speak to Munch, who saw him and met him in the middle, breifing him about what was going on. I snuck over, keeping a distance between us but close enough to overhear as they spoke. As they walked I lagged behind, following them as Munch walked him through the scene. I wasn't paying much attention; a couple of uniforms had already filled me in for the most part and I was just an observor of course.

But I came to a complete halt when we came to the police car where two little kids were sitting. I had heard that there were kids that had been found but... I didn't know that seeing them would cause such a pang of sadness. I stayed behind when the two men moved on, looking at that scared little girl shivering under a blanket. Sighing and giving up I crouched down next to the car and gave the girl a small smile, my eyes soft.

"Hey. My name's Jennifer. You don't have to be scared anymore all right? We're going to protect you and keep you safe now. So don't worry ok? I promise." I soothed, figuring I would get the same treatment as the other detectives. So the surprise probably showed on my face when she turned to me. I offered her another small smile, trying to get a response out of her. "So what is your name?" I continued, watching her face carefully.

"Eden." Came the small, quiet reply in a soft voice. I reached a hand up, moving slowly so she coud stop me if she wanted to, and rubbed her back in small circles.

"Well hello Eden. It's nice to meet you." I smiled again and she reached out to me, trying to climb my arms and clinging to my jacket. I nodded to her and scooped her up in my arms and stood up, trying to catch John's eye before giving up and turning all my attention to the girl. "So Eden does this make us friends?" I asked, urging her to keep talking. She smiled and nodded, watching me. I looked over at her and gave her a small wink.

"Good, 'cause I always wanted a friend who was shorter than me." I told her like it was a big secret and this time Eden giggled a little and smiled.

"I'm already almost taller than you silly." She explained and I chuckled, nodding with her. Finally the others seemed to notice that I'd gotten the girl to talk and Munch came over to let me know that we were going to head back to the precinct. I nodded and only asked if I could ride back with the little girl. He let me of course but Eden didn't saw much on the ride; she just sat there and clung to me while I ran a hand absently through her hair.

But for the life of me I hoped that she would help us and that my promise had rung true- that we would make sure she was safe and alright. That nothing would happen to her.

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- End Chapter -**


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